From a photograph by Solomon D. Butcher of four daughters of rancher Joseph M. Chrisman, at their sod house in Custer County, Nebraska. From left to right, Harriet, Elizabeth, Lucie, and Ruth. Photographed in 1886.

Friday, June 08, 2007

Prairie Wildflowers in Kingman County, Kansas

All In The Family... Life in Kansas... More About Trees and Plants

My brother Dwight amid wildflowers (with Sammie and Hank)

Gaillardia and other wildflowers

A variety of sunflower?

Catclaw sensitive briar

Blanket flower,spiderwort, etc.

Just today, I was thinking about the wildflowers on my brother's ranch in Kansas. This time of the year, especially if there has been good rain, they bloom gloriously.

Then one of those strange little coincidences happened. In today's mail, I found a package from my sister-in-law Kathy. It held a CD titled, "Kansas Wildflowers 2007."

I am sharing Kathy's beautiful photos since many of us haven't been on the Kansas prairie to enjoy the flowers during the last few weeks.

Dwight and Kathy live southwest of Wichita, Kansas, in Kingman County. Their place is on the extreme edge of a unique area that's called the Red Hills (or also the Gyp Hills, for the gypsum deposits.) The Red Hills and all of Kansas are in the Great Plains, in the shortgrass prairie region.

South central Kansas has had some rain this spring, and the flowers show it. I hope you'll click on some of these photos and look at the large version so you can see how the flowers stretch into the distance.

The red flowers, gaillardia, are often called blanket flower because of their similarity to brightly colored Indian blankets.

Some of the blue flowers are tradescantia, commonly known as spiderwort. They are related to daylilies. I don't know where I got the name "snakeflower" for them, but that's what I called them until I learned the proper name.

The flowers that look like pink daisies are purple coneflowers and those that look like yellow daisies are some kind of sunflower -- or so I would call them. Catclaw, one of the lavender flowers, is related to the mimosa tree.

If I'm wrong on any of this, feel free to straighten me out, and if you know some of the other names, please let me know.

Lesa, I'm really glad you're enjoying the blog. I have visited out there just once in early June when the wildflowers were blooming lavishly like this. It is an amazing and unforgettable sight. My brother says that sometimes there are wildflower tours around the area.

Hi, John. I think you'll enjoy Kansas. It's like Nebraska in that it has a reputation of being all cornfield, but actually, it has a lot of interesting things to see and land formations if you get off the interstate.

IT IS STILL BEST to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasure; and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong.(Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867-1957)